SB 195 
.G55 
Copy 1 



THE SYSTEM 



Preserving Green Food in Silos. 



BY 



PROFESSOR C. A. GOESSMANN. 



[FItOM THE TWEXTY-KIGHTII ANXCAL HEI'IJUV OF THE SKlJIlETAltY OF 
THE STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTCHE.] 



BOSTON: 

Kant, Slfcetg, & do., printErs to t!)E dominontoealtjj, 

117 Franklin Street. 
1881. 






0$^' 



X'V 



/ 



-K 



r 



THE SYSTEM 



Preserving Green Food in Silos. 



BY 



PROFESSOR C. A: GOESSMANN. 



{ri.'OM THE TWENTY-EIGirni AKXCAL RKI'OltT OF TIIK SECnETARY OF 
THE STATE HOARD OF AUR ICCLTrRE.^ 



BOSTON: 

ISanti, ^berg, & dLa., printers to tlje CComtnontoealtiQ, 

117 Franklin Stkeet. 
1881. 



-i.r 



,^ 



Gc 



By TranEvc 



THE SYSTEM OF PRESERVING GREEK FOOD IX SILOS. 

BY rROFESSOR CHARLES A. GOESSMAXN. 

Ms,. Chairman, and Memceks of the State Board of 
Agriculture, — Complying witli an invitation of tbo Com- 
mittee for the Arrangements of tliis country meeting of llie 
Board, I take the liberty of askiug your kind attention and 
indulgence for the presentation of a few remarks on the 
system of preserving green food in silos for the sujjport of 
farm live-stock. The uncommon interest so general!}- mani- 
fested, of late, in the discussion concerning the merits of 
the silo system for storing up green food, is but a deserved 
appreciation of the important agricultural problem which 
that mode of keeping fodder, in the opinion of some of its 
advocates, is destined to solve. As the question how to 
feed our farm live-stock in a rational and an economical 
manner can only be considered as second in importance, 
in a general farm management, to the qiiestiou how to 
raise our farm-crops in the most economical way, it seems 



GREEN FOOD IN SILOS. 157 

but judicious to investigate carefully any sj^stem of opera- 
tion, new to our farm practice, •whicli proposes to improve 
our present chances of securing economically an increased 
supply of green food, and thereby enable us to support 
more live-stock. Tlie reduced area of lands serving as 
natural pastures, their quite frequently exhausted condition, 
tlie large demands for fodder in the dairy business, the in- 
creasing prospects of remunerative production of meat for 
tlie general market, the gradual change of an extensive sys- 
tem of general farming to an intensive one, — each, in it;5 
own way, tends to direct our attention to the consideration 
of the fodder question. Increased production of the fodder- 
crops is the most characteristic feature in our modern 
intensive system of general farm management. In the jire- 
vailing intensive system of farming in the most successful 
districts of Europe, from one-third to one-half of the entire 
area of cultivated lands is devoted to the raising of fodder- 
crops. The statement that plenty of fodder produces plenty 
of manure, and tliat plenty of liome-made manure produces 
a plenty of remunerative crops, is there quite generally 
accepted as a safe rule. As the more prominent di.scussion 
of tlie silo S3'stem in our agricultural periodicals is, com- 
paratively speaking, of a quite recent date, and the actual 
tests in our farm i)ractiec arc still of an exceptional occur- 
rence, it is not strange that quite opposite views regarding 
its real merits in our situation find their advocates. This 
stage of opinion is apparently, in a large measure, due to 
two circumstances: first, to a frciiuent misapprehension re- 
garding the composition and the feeding value of the silo 
product — the ensilage — as compared with tlie original green 
crop ; and, second, to the adoption of a different basis for 
the estimation of economical points involved. Without in- 
tending to detract any thing from the well-deserved recogni- 
tion of the merits of the valuable experiments of John M. 
Bailey, Esq., of Billerica, Mass., and others elsewhere within 
the country, or to anticipate the final results of their practi- 
cal investigations, I propose to discuss in a few subsequent 
pages tlie silo system with reference to its history in Europe, 
and from the stand-point of a careful scientific inquiry. 

The preservation of green food in silos is at present 
mainly recommended for juicy plants, or parts of plants, 



158 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 

and for certain vegetable-refuse matter from several branches 
of industr}'. Prominent among these various substances are 
the stalks and leaves of the Indian-corn in blossom, the 
leaves of the sugar-beet roots, and the stems and leaves of 
potatoes. Grass and clover in wet summer seasons, the 
refuse pulp of the beet-root from the beet-sugar manufac- 
ture, and tlie potato refuse from the starch manufacture, 
also diseased and frost-bitten potatoes, and roots of various 
descriptions, liave been kept in silos, and thereby improved 
for feeding pui-poses; and, finall}^ coarse grass-like i^lants, 
as rushes (•Juncacece) and carices, or sedges (^Cyperaceai)^ 
vf'hich in their green state are, as a rule, but little eaten by 
cattle, have been prepared, in some instances, in silos, into a 
quite palatable and digestible cattle-food. The treatment 
of these and similar articles for their conversion into ensi- 
lage, or sour fodder, is usually carried out in either dry 
ditches or cemented cisterns especially constructed for that 
purpose. The green food, or the factory-refuse mass, after 
being reduced to a proper size for advantageous close pack- 
ing, is put in layers, in the space prepared for it, and thor- 
oughly trampled down, so as to leave no air-spaces in tiie 
mass. Horses are frequently turned to account to secure 
the desiied compactness. In piling the material into the 
pits prepared for it, pains are taken to raise it, in the centre, 
to a conical-shaped elevated top somewhat above the level 
of the surrounding ground, whilst on the sides it is kept 
somewhat lower. This course is pursued to prevent subse- 
quent depression in the centre of the silo. As .soon as the 
packuig-down is accomplished, at least two feet in thickness 
of earth is fdled upon the mass, usually without using any 
layer of straw or boards to keep the vegetable matter and 
the soil separated from each other. The success of the entire 
operation depends on the dryness of the pit, the careful 
packing-down of the mass in the silo, especially along its 
sides, and the keeping-out of the air, in particular during 
the earlier period of fermentation. The contents of a care- 
fully iirepared silo soon undergo a peculiar fei'mentation ; in 
some instances, of an acid character; in some of an indif- 
ferent or slightly alkaline character, which continues from 
one to two weeks, when thej' are ready for use : they keep 
in that condition for from six to eight and more months. 



GREEN FOOD IN SILOS. 159 

The original green food loses, during the period of fermenta- 
tion, more or less of its weiglit, amounting, in some instances, 
to from forty to fifty per cent. This loss consists of more or 
less organic matter, and largely of water of vegetation. 
Very juicy articles slu'ink, for this reason, most: tliey are 
also apt to lose soluble constituents by leakage, in case the 
silos are constructed in a loose sandy or gravelly soil, instead 
of a compact soil or in cemented masonry. Some of the 
starchy or saccharine constituents are invariably transformed 
into lactic acid, — the acid contained in sour milk, — and 
other products characteristic of a slimy fermentation under 
the exclusion of air: in some instances considerable quanti- 
ties of alcoholic products and fatty acids are noticed. The 
nitrogen percentage of tlie ensilage is, for obvious reasons, 
usually higher than that of the green food which served for 
its production ; although a small percentage of the nitroge- 
nous constituents of the green crops is destroyed, and changed 
into compounds of ammonia or of volatile alkaline com- 
pounds of a similar character. The color and the odor of 
the silo product depends on the success of the treatment, 
aud resembles more or less that of the material used : in 
case of green food it is usually either dark green or yello\N'- 
ish green. A failure of the silo process is readily noticed 
by a strong, unpleasant putrid odor, and the dark brown or 
black color of the vegetable matter, which is also covered by 
fungi growth. 

As agriculturalists differ not only in the details of carry- 
uig on the silo system in case of different materials, but 
also with reference to the same kind, I propose to describe 
subsequently some of the experiments of competent parties, 
to give a more comprehensive idea concerning tlie silo sys- 
tem as carried out abroad. Having on a previous occasion 
(Report, 1879-80, On the Feeding Value of Corn) described 
the rules which guide us in our decision regarding the com- 
parative feeding value of our various articles of fodder, I 
omit further details. 

Clover EnBtlage. — The ditches were three to four feet 
wide, aud from four to five feet deep, with sides slantmg 
slightly towards the centre. Sixteen cubic feet of space were 
counted for every ton of green red clover in blossom. The 
closely packed green clover filled two-thirds of the depth of 



IGO BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 

the ditch, lined with compact earth ; the remaining space 
was filled with the earth obtained from its construction ; 
subsequentl}^ the soil was raised to from six to eight inches 
above the level of the snrroundijig ground. Tlie contents of 
the silo, after ten montlis' keeping, were found to be of a 
dark-green color, of a slightly acid re-action, and of an 
agreeable odor. They were eagerly eaten by cattle. 

The composition of the clover (^Trifolium praterise') before 
entering the silo, and after its removal, was as follows : — 



FRESH GREEN CLOVER. EN'SILAHE. 



TVater 

Ivitrogenous matter 
Ether abstract (fat, etc.) 
NoD-nitrogenous extract matter 
Crude fibre .... 
Ash 

A samjile of both substances, calculated for a perfectly 
dry material, was found to consist as follows : — 



IVt cent. 


Ter cent 


77.30 


79.14 


4.55 


4.C2 


1.19 


2 03 


9.20 


5.9S 


5.83 


5.80 


1.93 


2.43 



FRESn 


OREEN CLOVER. 


ENSILAGE 


TVo+iii. 


Per cent. 


X'cr cent. 


\\ ater ...... 

Nitrogenous matter 


20.04 


22.14 


Kther abstract (fat, etc.) 


5.26 


9.7G 


Non-nitrogenous extract matter . 


40.53 


28.06 


Crude fibre 


25.68 


27.82 


Ash 


8.49 


11.63 



An examination of these analytical results shows that the 
amount of nitrogenous matter and the fatty acids have in- 
creased somewhat in the ensilage, as compared with the 
green clover ; whilst the digestible non-nitrogenous matter 
of the clover has been reduced to from six to eight per cent 
in quantity. The total amount of organic matter destroyed 
has not been stated : it is no doubt larger, and quite worthy 
of notice, judging from the results obtained in the succeeding 
experiment, with a plant of similar character, — esparsette 
QOnohri/olds sativa'), cultivated saintfoin, — by 11. Weiske. 

Esparsette Ensilage. — The material which served in the 
experiment was ciit on the IGth of June. One portion of 
the green esparsette was carefully dried, and saved for an 
analysis ; another portion was packed tightly into a box, and 



GREEN FOOD IN SILOS. 161 

buried in the contents of a silo of tlie previously described 
construction. The silo was opened about two months after- 
wards for feeding purposes. The box also was opened on 
that date, and its contents carefully dried and analyzed. 

DRIED ESPARSETTE. £>Rr£D ESPARSETTB ENSILAGE. 

Per cent. Per cent. 



Water 


- 


- 


Nitrogenous matter . 


18.56 


20.44 


Ether abstract (fat, etc.) . 


2.89 


6.02 


Non-nitrogenous extract matter, 


38.60 


30.88 


Crude fibre .... 


33.93 


35.18 


Ash 


6.02 


7.48 



A careful weighing of the green food in the box, before 
and after the treatment in the silo, showed that twenty-four 
per cent of the organic dry matter of the fresh green plant 
had been destroyed by fermentation. 

Grass, green lucern, and green lupine have been treated 
in silos with similar results. Quite interesting, in this con- 
nection, are the experiments with a mixture of green food 
and straw, to study the changes of the latter, as far as its 
subsequent feeding quality is concerned. Green rye and 
green vetch, with straw of wheat and of oats, were chosen 
for the investigation. As these two kinds of straw may be 
cut somewhat before the fidl ripening of the grains, without 
any injury to the latter, — a course which cannot be safely 
followed in the case of barley, etc., — they disintegrate, com- 
paratively speaking, quite readily, and thus become in a 
higher degree digestible when treated in silos with green 
food. Rye and vetch were taken just before blooming. One 
])a]-t of either one of the two green plants, and twenty parts 
of wheat-straw, were cut in a suitable maeliine into pieces of 
about one to two inches in length : for every hundred pounds 
of straw there was added from a pound to a pound and a 
half of salt. The green food and the straw were placed 
in alternate layers in the silo, and, after being trampled down, 
were covered in the usual manner with several feet in thick- 
ness of earth. The silos, in this case, were filled in summer, 
and opened as late as October, and their contents fed during 
the winter. The somewhat extended period of keeping 
them fermenting before feeding insured a proper softening 
and disintegrating of the straw, and therefore a higher 



162 BOARD OF AGEICULTURE. 

degree of digestibilit}'. The fodder produced in tliis way 
had an odor and a taste similar to hay. Professor Voelcker, 
who speaks favorably of this mode of operation, obtained 
the following analytical results from the wheat-straw before 
its treatment, and after its removal from the silo. 

RAW WHEAT-STRAW. FERMENTED WHEAT-STRAW. 







Per cent. 


Per cent 


Water . . . . 




]3.33 


7.76 


Fat 




1.74 


1.60 


Nitrogenous matter . 




2.93 


4.19 


^Matter soluble in water 




4.26 


10.16 


IJattir soluI-ile in diluted 


acid 






and alkalies . 




19.40 


35.74 


Raw fibre .... 




54.13 


34.54 


Insoluble mineral matter . 




3.08 


3.20 


Soluble mineral matter 




1.13 


2.82 



These results show a remarkable increase in the soluble 
and digestible matter of the straw, being raised from twenty- 
three to twenty-four per cent, to that of from forty-five to 
forty-six per cent, not speaking of other favorable alterations 
in the original composition of the straw. 

Leaves and Tops of Beet-Routs and Sugar-Beet-Root Pulp 
Ensilage. — The preservation of these refuse materials be- 
comes a very important question wherever the agricultural 
advantages arising from the introduction of the beet-sugar 
industry enter into consideration. They form the basis of an 
extensive system of stock-feeding for the meat-market and 
the dairy, which is invariably connected with the beet-sugar 
industry in Europe. Assuming for the refuse-beet mass — 
leaves, tops, and pulp — the same amount of moisture which 
is contained in the fresh beet-root (eighty-two to eiglity-tUree 
per cent), its quantity amounts in weight to nearly one-third 
of the entire root-crop, or from five to six tons per acre 
(leaves, two tons ; pressed pulp, three tons ; and tops, one 
ton). As an illustration of the changes which the leaves 
and tops undergo in silos, the following carefully conducted 
experiments may serve : A ditch from seven to eight feet 
deep, five feet long, and five feet wide, was filled with alter- 
nate layers of leaves and tops from the same lot of roots, 
until the solid trampled mass reached the level of the sur- 
rounding grounds. A layer of leaves, and siibsequently a 
mass of earth several feet in thickness, served as a final 



GREEN FOOD IN SILOS. 1G3 

cover. The silo was filled in October, and opened for use in 
the following March. To ascertain at the same time the 
exact loss in organic matter which the above-stated beet-root 
refuse would suffer in consequence of the fermentation in 
the silo, a definite quantity of the contents of the latter was 
cut out, and at once carefully packed tightly into a box, and 
buried in the centre of the silo. The latter was closed in 
October, and opened for use in March. Leaves and tops 
had changed but little in color. The ensilage in the silo had 
lost fort3'-nine per cent in weight, as compared with that of 
the fresh green material. The contents of the box had lost 
by slow fermentation nearly one-fifth (eighteen per cent) of 
the dry matter contained in the green food. The fresh mate- 
rial contained 10.54 per cent of dry matter, and the ensilage 
only 8.44 per cent. These results demonstrate that juicy 
plants in ordinary ditches may lose as high as fifty per cent 
of their soluble constituents, and that, even in exceptionally 
careful managed cases, a serious loss of their organic matter 
is unavoidable. The process, on the other hand, had in- 
creased the rate of the digestibility of the cellular matter, 
and rendered the beet-refuse more palatable to cattle. (O 
Kellner.) 

Analysis of Dry Matter, of Fresh Green Leaves, and of the Ensilage oj 

Beet-Leaves. 





FRESH GREEN LEAVES. 


ENSILAGE. 




Per eeat. 


Per cent. 


Nitrogenous matter . 


26.71 


21.2S 


Fat (ether abstract) . 


2.75 


8.79 


Crude fibre 


14.99 


18.56 


Non-nitrogenous extract matter . 37.13 


39.42 


Ash . 


18.42 


12.00 



The pulp of beet-roots, obtained from beet-sugar factories, 
is treated in silos in a similar way. Frozen roots and pota- 
toes are either crushed or sliced before thejr enter the silo, 
and frequently receive previously an addition of one per 
cent of salt. 

A few analytical statements in this connection may not 
be without interest, as they convey at least some approxi- 
mate idea concerning the alteration which the sugar-beet 
root usually suffers before its factory-refuse mass serves as 
cattle-food. (Ritthausen; Voelcker.) 



1G4 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 







3 




2 -3 
c ^ 

£ i 










O 














c iZ 






.2 






tZ 


as 




•ES^ 


g 






^ 


£ a 


u 5 

&< 




1 


5 


Susjar-beet root (fresh) 


81.77 


0.85 


15.07 




1.36 


0.944 


Diffusion refuse beet-root 














(fresh) .... 


93.50 


0.51 


0.035 


3.66 


1.33 


0.962 


Diftusiou refuse beet-root 














(pressed) .... 


88.54 


0.8G 


0.11 


7.37 


1.91 


1.23 


Diffusion refuse beet-root 














(pressed, and changed into 














ensilage) .... 


80.83 


1.02 


0.08 


5.94 


2.53 


0.60 



Com Ensilage. — The treatment of corn-fodder in silos has 
of late acquired considerable prominence in Austria and 
France. Both countries contain quite large areas of land, 
well fitted by climatic conditions for an advantageous culti- 
vation of corn. The succes.sful and extensive apijlication of 
the silo system in the sugar-beet industry of those countries 
has apparently greatly stimulated inquiries into its useful- 
ness for general farm practice. In many instances in France, 
where the sugar-beet root is sold from a small farm to dis- 
tant sugar-factories, and high freight rates prevent the re- 
turn of the refuse beet-root pulp to the root-grower, corn 
ensilage is used to make up the deficiency in fodder, caused 
by the sale of the root-crop. Our late home experiments 
are apparently largely inspired by the teachings of distin- 
guished French agriculturalists. As I have reason to sup- 
l^ose that interesting descriptions of our home experiments 
will be presented here to-day by gentlemen intimately ac- 
quainted with that subject, I shall confine myself to the 
description of an investigation carried on at the agricultural 
experiment station at Vienna, for the pur^jose of ascertaiiiing 
the precise effect of the silo fermentation upon tlie composi- 
tion of green-corn fodder, and the degree of loss which the 
organic dry matter siiffers under that treatment. 

The green-corn fodder was cut at an early stage of bloom- 
ing, and, without any other preparation, carefullj' packed 
into silos of the usual size and form. Several feet in thick- 
ness of earth served as a cover. An analysis of the green 
corn before filling the silo, and after its opening from two 
experiments, gave tlie following results: — 



GREEN FOOD IN SILOS. 



165 







o 




Ogenous 








s 






II 


S 2 


n 








s 




a 


z^ 


S -= 




o 




CO 


b 
a 


A. 


















Fresh green-corn fodder, 


79.35 


0.90 


0.76 


10.82 


6.67 


0.63 


0.87 


19.72 


Ensilage from lo inches 


















depth in the silo 


57.69 


1.86 


1.88 


7.48 18.32 


1.90 


1.80 


33.24 


Ensilage from 30 inches 


















depth in the silo 


77.84 


1.06 


1.08 


7.48 


10.38 


1.01 


1.21 


22.22 


B. 


















Fresh green-corn fodder, 


70.72 


0.98 


0.92 


12.24 


7.70 


0.64 


0.80 


23.28 


Ensilage from a depth of 








• 










37 inches . 


80.63 


0.80 


1.11 


6.78 


8.40 


0.82 


1.46 


19.37 



The following calculation of these results, calculated for 
the dry matter, gives a better chance to notice the changes 
of the latter in the green crop, as compared with the silo 
product : — 

The Loss of the Dry Matter of the Green Crop in the Silos, stated in 
Percentaijes. 























ca 

3 
O 

IS 


j3 g 




II 
Is 










^^ 


^ ^ 






i 


1 










O 




< 


cn 


A. 
















Ensilage from 15 inches depth 


in 














the silo .... 


, 


27.8 


13.0 


3.40 


44.5 


5.9 


- 


Ensilage from 30 inches depth 


in 














the silo .... 


• 


32.4 


14.5 


5.3 


57.9 


2.10 


- 


B. 
















Ensilage from 37 inches depth 


in 














the silo .... 




34.4 


3.1 


12.4 


55.5 


2.30 


"" 



Both nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous extract substances 
suffered the largest loss. The slight alteration in ash con- 
stituents proves that but little, if any, organic matter was 
lost in any other way than by fermentation. The corn 
ensilage contained in both cases various alcoholic products, 
and considerable quantities of fatty volatile acids. A care- 
ful comparative examination (A) showed, that, at about 



166 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



fifteen inches deptli in tlie silo, 27.9 per cent of tlie organic 
matter of tlie green-corn fodder had been lost, and, at a 
depth of thirty inches, 34.70 per cent ; whilst in a second 
trial (B), at from thirty-seven to thirty-eight inches in depth, 
34.8 per cent were lost. These results, in connection with 
those noticed in the previously described experiments with 
beet-root refuse and esparsette, demonstrate plainly that the 
preservation of green fodder in silos causes a considerable 
loss of valuable organic constituents, even when managed in 
an exceptionally careful manner. Those who are somewhat 
familiar with the transformation of starchy and saccharine 
substances into alcoholic products, and subsequently into 
acids, know that in either case nearly one-half their weight 
passes off in a gaseous state, and are therefore expecting in 
the silo treatment the largest losses in those articles of green 
fodder which contain in considerable proportion one or the 
other, or both, of these widely diffused proximate organic 
constituents of plants. 

The composition of ensilage varies in a not less degree, 
taking tlie entire contents of a silo into consideration, than 
that of the green crop which serves for its production. The 
same is true as far as the ensilage in different parts of the 
silo is concerned, as has been shown in the preceding pages. 



Composition of Corn Ensilage from Diff 


erent Silos. 




iloser. 


V. Johren. 


Goessmann* 


Water 

Nitrogenous matter 
Fat (ether abstract) 
Kou-uitrogeuous extract matter 
Crude fibre ..... 
Ash 


80.63 
0.80 
1.11 
6.78 
8.40 
0.82 


77.84 
1.06 
1.08 
7.48 

10.38 
1.01 


83.827 
0.706 
0.709 
9.176 
4.203 
1.201 


80.70 
1.56 
0.62 
8.92 
6.43 
1.77 (crude) 



Some Extremes of Variations in the Composition of Green- Corn Fodder. 

Per cent. Per cent. 

Water 76.8 85.7 

Nitrogenous matter 0.9 2.0 

Fat (ether abstract) 0.4 0.7 

Non-nitrogenous extract matter . . . 6.4 15.3 

Crude fibre 3.0 5.9 

Ash 1.0 1.2 

• From the silo of Jobu M. Bailey, Esq., of Billerica, Mass., December, 1879. 



GREEN FOOD IN SILOS. 167 

From the previous analytical demonstrations it will be 
quite obvious that the recommendation of the corn ensilage 
cannot well be based on its higher feeding value, pound for 
pound, as compared with green-corn fodder. The increased 
digestibility of the cellular matter in the corn ensilage, and 
the small, if an}^ increase of nitrogenous matter, is from a 
physiological as well as a commercial stand-jioint, to say the 
least, a doubtful compensation for the sugar and starch 
destroyed by the fermentation of the corn-fodder in the silo. 
An ecouomical and rational feeding of the corn ensilage, as 
well as the green-corn fodder, requires as a* rule, except 
when fed for a mere sustenance, an addition of a stronger 
article of food to meet the requirements of either growth, 
or work, or the production of milk and flesh. The silo sys- 
tem furnishes no exception to the rule that our practical 
modes of preserving fodder are accompanied with a loss in 
quantity and quality of valuable plant constituents, and 
that an}' attainable higher feeding value of our fodder-crops 
is almost invariably secured at the sacrifice of quantity. 
The question of waste is simply a matter of degree^ when 
comparing existing modes of keeping fodder with that of 
the silo system. The correctness of the previous exposition 
once conceded, it remains for me to discuss briefly some of 
the circumstances which tend to make the introduction of 
the silo system a valuable addition to our modes of keeping 
fodder, and thus of increasing our resources for farm 
improvement. 

The management of the silo system for preserving fodder 
is independent of the weather, — an advantage of jxirticular 
importance in the case of juicy plants, so largely represented 
among our fodder-plants. The long period required for their 
change into dry fodder, or hay, endangers in a higher degree 
quantity, and in particular qualitj', than in tlie case of com- 
mon grass. Exposure of green crops to rain, even for a 
short period, during the hay-making, alters the quality of 
the hay far more than usually suspected. A few analytical 
results may convey some more definite idea about the extent 
of the change. 



168 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



(E. SCIIULZE.) 


Good Clover-IIay. 


Clover-Ilay exposed for 




(>'o rain.) 


two weeks to rains. 


Water 


14.11 


14.76 


Nitrosjenous matter 






11.22 


8.15 


Fat (ether abstract) 






2.40 


1.01 


Non-11 itio£;enous extract matter 






35.33 


20.01 


Crude fibre .... 






33.08 


43 02 


Ash 






4.20 


2 86 


Slim of nutritive matter 






48.05 


39 36 (— 20) 


Matter sohible in water 






27.77 


15 34 (—45) 







Clover-Hay exposed fof 


(E. HEIDEN.) 


Good Clover-nay. 


two weeks of rainy 

days. 


Water 


14.51 


14.51 


Nitroarenous matter .... 


17.05 


1!.02 


Fat (ether alistract) .... 


5.06 


3.29 


Non-nitro2:eiious extract matter . 


31.04 


9.77 


Crude fibre 


25.72 


52.09 


Ash 


6.62 


5.72 



Good hicern-hay lost, in consequence of an exposure to 
some rain-sliowers, within two days, 7.13 per cent of its dry 
matter (O. Kellner) ; in anotlier case, where the lucern-hay 
had within six days repeatedly suffered from rains, a loss of 
16.7 per cent of dry matter was noticed. Tlie nitrogenous 
and non-nitrogenous soluble constituents of the plants are 
mainly affected by rain. The stage of growth, the more or 
less advanced state of dryness of hay, and the surrounding 
temjoerature, control here, to a large degree, the extent of 
the loss in soluble organic matter. 

Fodder-plants like clover, with coarse juicy stems and 
tender leaves, usually suffer seriously in their feeding value, 
by frequent handling, from loss of leaves, which are the 
most nutritive parts of the plant. The loss due to this 
source shows itself everywhere in the inferior digestibility 
of a common clover-hay, used in actual trials, as compared 
with carefully prepared clover-hay, where a large proportion 
of its leaves had been saved. The differences in the rate of 
digestibility of the various constituents of gTeen clover and 
clover-hay, obtained from the same crop, arising from the 



GREEN FOOD IN SILOS. 169 

loss of leaves in the case of the clover-hay, has been noticed 
to amount, even in a careful farm management of hay- 
making in fair weatlier, to from two to six per cent less of 
the several proximate constituents of the dry matter in the 
clover-hay. Observations on lucern confirm the previous 
statement. The following analytical results give some more 
definite idea regarding the amount less digested of each con- 
stituent in the case of clover-hay as compared with the green 
clover. Cattle served for the experiment. (KUhn.) 



• 


EXTREMES. 


AVEKAGE. 




Tur cent. 


Per cent. 


Total dry matter of fodder . 


. 1.3 to 5.0 


3.7 


Organic matter .... 


. 3.7 "6.0 


5.1 


Isitrogeuous matter 


. 1.4 "4.1 


3.0 


Nou-nitrogenous extract matter 


. 3.0 "G.l 


4.9 ^ 


Crude fibre 


. 2.3 "0.8 


4.4 ' 



Careful investigation of a quite recent date (Klihn, Wolff, 
etc.) has proved that a mere dr^dng of our common fodder- 
crops, as grass, clover, and other leguminous plants, does not 
affect their rate of digestibility. Tlie green fodder, and the 
dry fodder or hay (entire plant) from the same plant, in tlie 
same stage of growth, have sliown a corresponding rate of 
assimilation of their dry substance. Whenever, therefore, 
the production of dry fodder can be carried on in a short 
period of time and in a satisfactory manner, the largest 
amount of dry matter of the highest attainable feeding value 
may be secured from the plant in that way : no other cur- 
rent mode of preserving its feeding value can equal it in 
regard to the quantity of the result. As, however, the 
quality of a dry fodder, as hay, clover, stover, etc., depends 
on the influence of the weather, and the mode of handling 
and of keeping, — circumstances which are to a large extent, 
in ordinary farm practice, beyond personal control, — our vari- 
ous articles of dry fodder are frequently far from what they 
might be, or ouglit to be. The above few analytical state- 
ments regarding the loss, in case of the dry fodder, by waste, 
of the tender parts of the plant, as well as regarding tlie 
influence of rain on half-dried fodder, give us at least a 
chance to approximate the loss, in nutritive constituents, 
from these two sources, which are liable to acquire unusual 
importance in case of tliose plants for which the silo system 



I 



170 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 

has been judiciously recommended. The ensilage contains, 
without any particular exertion, the entire fodder-croj), 
leaves and stems unimpaired. The quality and quantity 
of the ensilage, in case of a carefully constructed cistern 
and ordinary care in management, suffers mainly from but 
one source, — fermentation. The waste of nutritious plant 
constituents in the silo appears, probably, to most of us 
large, even ruinous, because we have taken but little pains 
to find numerical values for the depreciatioir in the feed- 
ing value of our fodder-crops, which, our current modes of 
preserving fodder are liable to permit or to favor. 

Preferring actual results to mere approximations, and 
ascribing, therefore, to the silo system a higher rate of un- 
avoidable waste of feeding value than to any otlier current 
mode of preserving fodder, it ought to be remembered that 
there are some redeeming features connected with the prod- 
uct of the silo, — the ensilage, — for which it will be diffi- 
cult to find one definite numerical value when comparing it 
with the dry fodder of the same plant ; namely, the silo fer- 
mentation increases the rate of digestibility of otherwise 
indigestible constituents (cellular matter) of the green fod- 
der, and thereby compensates somewhat for the waste of 
valuable soluble organic matter ; and the ensilage of those 
crops for which the silo system is judiciously recommended 
is almost invariably more acceptable to all kinds of farm 
live-stock than the dry fodder. 

When we add to the previous enumeration of exceptional 
advantages arising from the introduction of the silo system 
the one that it will tend to increase the production of one 
of our most important fodder-plants, the corn, and that it 
will enable us eventually to take care of important refuse 
materials from various branches of agricultural chemical 
industry, as sugar or starch manufacture, we can but desire 
that its financial relation to our farm economy should 
receive the most careful practical investigatio]i. The silo 
system is not a substitute for existing modes of preserving 
fodder, but will prove a most valuable assistance to increase 
our chiuices of securing larger quantities of good fodder. 



172 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 

do is to reduce it to a certain lower proportion ; and that is 
all that Mr. Goffart would claim. Probably his translators 
have not given us his fitU views. The process of fermenta- 
tion is so well understood, that it is no longer a matter of 
controversy. Scientists agree on that entirely. The prac- 
tical results, at least, are fully agreed upon. We know what 
becomes of sugar in the presence of nitrogenous matter. 
We liuow, that, whenever the cellular structure of a plant is 
injured (as is the case with the contents of silos in the 
majority of instances), transformation begins. The soluble 
nitrogenous matter comes in contact with the saccharine and 
starchy substances; and what is the effect? The sugar is 
changed, according to circumstances, either into lactic acid, 
or into alcohol and carbonic acid, and subsequently into 
acetic acid ; and we find, therefore, in our best-constructed 
sUos, with corn-fodder, acid to a large extent ; namely, acetic 
acid and lactic acid. The former is the residt of the oxida- 
tion of the alcohol. That is the natural consequence. Fer- 
mentation and oxidation are two distinct processes. The 
one causes the breakiug-up of certain substances into com- 
pounds of a simpler constitution ; as, for instance, sugar 
breaks up into alcohol and carbonic acid. Nothing is lost 
from the make-up of the sugar. Acetic acid means the 
access of oxygen to the alcohol, and the formation of water.. 
Alcohol and carbonic acid are only intermediate processes. 
Therefore, if we are not careful, we may destroy the con- 
tents of the cells as starch and sugar to a ruinous extent. 
In other words, a silo treatment may destroy- fifty per cent 
of the feeding value of your food. The above-described 
experiments tend to prove that we cannot prevent the de- 
struction of from twenty to twenty-five per cent at least. 
Scientists do not agree as to the physiological vakie of the 
various compounds produced. In regard to starch and 
sugar, we know by experience what they are worth in the 
animal economy: what lactic acid is worth, we are yet in 
doubt, and what alcohol is worth is stUl a matter of dispute 
to-day. We have thus, in one case, compounds of recog- 
nized physiological value, whilst on the other side we have 
a series of products of decomposition without any proof of 
what they are relatively worth in the animal economy as 
compared with the substances from which they originated. 



GREEN FOOD IN SILOS. 173 

There is, therefore, what I call unavoidable destruction in 
the operation of the silo system, as a partial fermentation 
is, in practice, still unavoidable. 

Mr. Wake. I am very glad of the explanation ; but I am 
sorry to have some of the starch taken out of the ensilage 
system. It strikes me that the box that has been spoken oi', 
placed in the bottom of a silo, would not be compressed so 
solidly as a silo well loaded would be. If that is the case, 
I think it would account for a large portion of the destruc- 
tion that took place in that box. 

Now, in illustration, I would like to state one fact that has 
come under my own observation, that it seems to me is 
exactly in the line of this silo preservation. I live on the 
seashore, and we on the seashore depend very largely upon 
the ocean for material for fertilizing purposes in the form 
of kelp. Kelp taken from the seashore, and exposed to the 
air, will, within thirty-six or forty-eight hours, even in win- 
ter, reach a state of high fermentation, and become so warm, 
that maggots will be produced even in the middle of winter 
Now, when we have a large amount of kelp come up on the 
shore, we go to work and team it up, load after load, tread- 
ing it down continually, until we have a pile perhaps eight 
or ten feet high, which becomes very solid ; and two or three 
months after (although it is a substance that will ferment 
very rapidly, — as quickly as green corn fodder), while the 
surface of that pile for the depth, perhaps, of ten inches, 
where it has not been trodden quite solid, will be badly de- 
cayed, the remainder of the kelp-leaves are perfect, the color 
is retained, and it seems to retain all the characteristics of 
the fresh plant. 

Now it seems to me that here is an illustration of the 
operation of a silo. This kelp has been preserved, if you 
please, by this system of ensilage, in a perfect condition, with 
no appearance of fermentation having taken place. It seems 
to me that the great object in our silos is to follow out this 
simple illustration ; that is, we must fill the silo so rapidlj^, 
and tread the green fodder so solidly, and load it finally so 
heavily, — as I understand, not less than twelve hundred- 
weight to the square yard, — that the air will be expelled ; 
and it will be kept hermetically sealed from the air, so that 
fermentation cannot take place. 



174 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 

Now I may be mistaken. I have not gone into it, although 
I have studied the matter carefully ; but, if fermentation 
cannot be prevented in that way, I fear that our system of 
ensilage is not going to meet the expectations that I, at least, 
had conceived of it. 

Professor Goessmann. We apply the name "fermenta- 
tion " to several changes which are taking place in vegetable 
matter. We have the vinous fermentation ; and alcohol and 
carbonic acid are its products. We have the slimy fermen- 
tation ; and lactic acid, a non-volatile acid, is mainly pro- 
duced. These latter changes are everywhere taking place 
where nitrogenous matter is mixed with non-nitrogenous 
matter under limited access of air. They are very serious, 
and cannot easily be prevented. It is a mere matter of 
degree. Take, for instance, a simple grape-berry. You can 
keep that berry by drying it carefully, as is done on a large 
scale. But take that berry, and give it the slightest lacera- 
tion with the finest needle you can conceive of, and that 
berry is gone. From that spot disintegration will take 
place, and it is only a question of lime what shall become of 
it. It is an illustration of the process of destruction that is 
continually going on in the world. After life conies death. 
The moment that cellular system is broken, there is a retro- 
grade movement, and the grape-berry goes back to its ele- 
ments. So it is simply a matter of degree. I might say, of 
course, that the changes take place in different directions. 
In one case, it is lactic acid ; in the other case, it is acetic 
acid. But what does it matter ? A change from a valuable 
constituent of fodder into a constituent of very doubtful 
value is the result. We shall always find the largest losses 
in the ensilage in the corn ; and, if we should take sugar- 
corn, it would be still more ruinous, as sugar is a most 
essential constituent of that kind of corn ; and for this 
reason, ordinarily, the decomposition of the sugar-corn would 
be far greater than of the common corn. 

Mr. Cheevee. Before the professor leaves the platform, 
I would like to ask him if our canned fruits do really keep 
perfectly in glass jars, sealed tight, put up boiling hot, or 
whether there is fermentation going on in those bottles. 

Professor Goessmann. When you can your fruit, it 
being heated up to a certain high temperature, you bring 



GREEN FOOD IN SILOS. 175 

it up to the point of tlie destruction of life. Fermentation 
is due to living organism floating in the air. These living 
germs, coming in contact with vegetable matter, begin to 
develop, and will continue to develop just as long as their 
life lasts. If you heat up any article to be preserved to a 
point where you destroy the living organisms, and seal it 
up air-tight while hot, you will fail to find any alcoholic 
products in that can. 

Mr. Cheevee. Then the two cases of putting ensdage 
into an air-tight box and canned fruit into bottles are not 
parallel ? 

Professor Goessmann. No. 

Mr. Cheevee. I suspect that box was filled as tightly as 
possible. If we know what influences the result, we shall 
be very careful to exclude that influence ; and I suppose the 
parties considered that very carefully. They knew air was a 
destructive element, and, if they wanted to obtain a result 
worth any thing, they adopted a system which they thought 
would best bring about the result, and excluded air as much 
as possible. Taking that for granted, is not a tight box in 
the middle of a sUo far better protected than any part of the 
silo? 

Professor Goessmann. The only practical way to do it 
better is to turn in water at a certain stage, and let the 
water exclude the air. These experiments have, however, 
not been sufiiciently tried to determiue what the exact result 
would be. The water would probably dilute the material 
so much as to make it worthless. 

Mr. Whitt^UvEE. I should like to ask the professor, in 
connection with this matter of the exclusion of atmospheric 
air, a question which I think bears very seriously upon the 
point. In order to preserve any thing practically, as I 
understand it, we have either to get rid of the water, or 
get rid of the atmospheric air. If we retain the water, we 
must expel the atmospheric air : if we retain the atmos- 
pheric air, we must get rid of the water. Now, here is the 
point with regard to this ensilage business. We fill the silo, 
and, in filling it, we put in a certain quantity of decayed 
matter. Can that be avoided ? I have always been taught 
that matter in a state of decay, however small it may be, will 
carry decay through the mass. It would not make any dif- 



176 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 

ference if the silo was as big as this building, and filled full, 
if there was a piece of decaying matter as large as my fist 
iu it, it would produce decay in the whole mass eventually. 
The entire exclusion of atmospheric air wUl prevent that. 
But do we exclude atmospheric air from our silos? I do 
not believe it has ever been done. We fill the silo, and the 
matter we put in is loaded with atmospheric air. As it goes 
in, atmospheric air goes in with it. We put our plank on top 
of it, we weight it down, and we put earth on top in order 
to exclude the atmospheric air. But we have all the atmos- 
pheric air in the silo that was in the material we put in,- 
and, when we compress that, we simply condense the at- 
mospheric au'- that is in there, and, by condensing it, we 
render it more efficient to prevent fermentation. Is not that 
so? 

Professor Goessmann. Oh, yes, sir ! It is only a matter 
of degree. It is practically impossible to exclude air abso- 
lutely. The simple question is, practically, Can we, with a 
moderate expenditure of time and labor, preserve our fodder 
in that exceptional way ? If a simple mode of operation will 
not do it, the whole thing is not worth having ; but, if a sim- 
ple mode will accomplish it, it is. There is a partial loss 
which is inevitable. 

Dr. Sturtevakt. In the changes which are taking place, 
there is a production of carbonic acid gas, which excludes 
the air to a certain degree. In some cases, certainly, where 
an opening is cut down into the silo, and a lighted candle 
dropped in, the candle will be extinguished. This carbonic 
acid gas in some silos certainly expels the atmospheric air 
to a certain extent, occupies its place, and stops putrefactive 
change. 

Professor GoESSMANN. There are two processes in oper- 
ation in fermentation which we have to keep in mind : one 
is the action of air, and the other is the action of living 
germs. The exhaustion of the air amounts to very little, as 
you will understand when you know that one pound of sugar 
will dispose of all the oxygen in that silo, and leave nitro- 
gen behind. Nitrogen takes its place. The presence of 
nitrogen excludes air. As Dr. Sturtevant mentioned, if you 
put a light into the silo, it will go out as quickly as in 
carbonic acid. Therefore there are two causes which will 



GREEN FOOD IN SILOS. 177 

dispose of the air. The destruction of the germ-life is a far 
more important question. That is disintegrating without 
air: that transforms all the constituents, it changes the 
sugar, etc., into lactic acid without the aid of air. In our 
canning system we get the germs out of the air : the heat 
destroys them. A little air we do not care about. A few 
grains of sugar will dispose of the oxj'gen of the air very 
effectually ; but it cannot dispose of the germs that are 
there. They are living beings, multiplying by millions, and 
we know that those forces are most powerful. It is that 
continued multiplication which destroys the plant. 

Mr. Whittakke. As I understand Dr. Sturtevant's 
point, it is, that, as the carbonic gas increased, the oxygen 
would be expelled; but, if the oxygen cannot get out, I do 
not know where it is to go. As I understand that the car- 
bonic acid, when formed, is no greater in bulk than the oxy- 
gen that is contained in it was before it was converted into 
carbonic acid, this carbonic acid formed from oxygen will 
occupy just the same space, and no more, as the oxygen 
before it combined with the carbon to make carbonic acid. 
Consequently the atmospheric air would be just as prevalent, 
notwithstanding it was mixed pretty well up with the car- 
bonic acid. It would not be displaced, but would occupy 
just the same space that it occupied before it was combined. 

Dr. Faxon (of Quincy). Among my labors at the 
National Sailors' Home, of whicli I am superintendent, has 
been the reclaiming a large quantity of salt meadow, part of 
it covered with black grass, wliicli I cut yearly, and used for 
bedding altogetlier. Last May I went to Billerica, and saw 
the silo of Dr. Bailey, and I concluded tliat all there was to 
a silo was the exclusion of air: so I thought I would try 
the experiment with some of my black grass. I took a lot 
of old boards, and enclosed one of the end bays in the barn, 
ten feet by twelve, in the loosest manner, and I put into that 
all the black gr.iss I cut on two acres and a half of the marsli, 
and trod it down very thoroughly. I think I commenced on 
the fifteenth day of June, which was Tuesday, and I finished 
on Saturday. Tlie grass was cut every da}' after the dew 
was off, and put into the bay. On the barn-floor side I put 
up simply one upright three by thi-ee post, and put in the 
boards. The heat was sufficient to be disagreeable to the 



178 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 

hand, and people said the barn would burn up. When all 
was in, I put boards on crosswise, and loaded that grass, 
which was then about eleven feet high, with stones, at the 
rate of at least a hundred pounds to the square foot, and 
reduced the pile as much as I could. It sunk at least a third 
in bulk. Some four or five weeks afterwards — possibly ifc 
was not more than three weeks — I commenced on the front 
side, and took down the boards, and cut off a strip about two 
feet wide, which had moulded for about three inches in. 
That fodder was a rich tobacco-color, and, instead of being 
acid to the taste or smell, it was positively sweet. It had a 
taste like honey. The flies came to it in swarms. I fed it 
to my cattle, and, although there was not a creature that 
would eat this black grass in its original state, they all ate it 
readily. My cows did not decrease in milk : they kept in 
just as good condition all through. I fed tliem almost exclu- 
sively on this fodder. I don't believe I gave two pounds of 
hay a day to the cows. Of course, there was some transform- 
ation in the product which rendered that fodder, wliich before 
was of little value, of considerable value. I am not going to 
discuss tlie question as to whether silo product is worth more 
than tlie same product would be if fairly saved in a dried 
condition. I simply state the results of my experience, that 
any other man, if he chooses, may try the operation. 

Question. How long did the grass remain in the field 
after it was cut? 

Dr. Faxon. It was carried directly to the barn. Proba- 
bly there was none of it remained an hour on the ground 
after it was cut. I fed it until midsummer. 

I tried another experiment about the same time. I had a 
box that I had used to steam food in. I begin to cut my 
grass as soon as it is high enough, and feed it to my cows. 
I took that box, and put in probably a ton of grass, and 
weighted it the saine way ; and at tlie end of three weeks it 
had developed quite an acid smell and taste. You could not 
get any such sweet taste out of it as out of the black grass. 

I will mention an experiment with corn-fodder. I had a 
lot of fodder that I cut in October. It was sowed the last 
week in July between my potatoes. I marketed the pota- 
toes ; and when the fi-ost came, to save that fodder, I made a 
pit eighty-four feet long, ten feet wide, and fifteen inches 



GREEN FOOD IN SILOS. 179 

deep, and put the corn in this pit. On the edge of the pit, 
so as to make them flush with the inside edge, I put up a 
lot of old posts six feet apart ; and I boarded up the sides 
five feet high, loosely, with hemlock boards. It took nearly 
a thousand feet. As the fodder was cut when the dew was 
off, I brought it to the pit and laid it in, butts all one way, 
lapping the butts as one laps shingles, so as to make the 
small tops lie with the butts ; and I carried that process out 
the whole eighty-four feet. Not having quite as much as I 
wanted, I carried down there five large tip-cart loads of fod- 
der that was cut when the corn was, and from which the 
corn had been husked, and put that on top of the green fod- 
der, which raised it above the boarding : I put on top a little 
thatch of eel-grass, and threw on fifteen or eighteen inches of 
dirt. When the mass settled, the acid smell was scarcely 
perceptible. You could put your hand in five days after the 
first lot was put in, and the heat was not at all uncomforta- 
ble. You could feel it was warm. 

Professor Goessmann. I can but confirm your observa- 
tion. The result depends entirely vipon the composition of 
the plant. Grass and clover will jiroduce an ensilage quite 
different from corn. A plant which has little sugar will act 
quite differently from a plant that has a great deal of sugar. 
There is no need of having an acid : it may be even alkaline. 
The main question is to prevent the change from going be- 
yond a certain point, and injuring the feeding value of the 
material. Those plants which contain the largest amount of 
sugar will produce the largest amount of acid : therefore corn 
ensilage is usually sourer than that from clover or any otlicr 
plant. 

Dr. Faxon. The mass settled down so that it would 
weigh fifty pounds to the cubic foot. It was a little mouldy 
at one end for two or three inches ; and I shovelled off the 
dirt, and cut that part out, and I found there was a great 
deal more acid than there was in the bay of black grass. But 
the cattle ate that fodder just as well as they did the other, 
and the increase in milk was quite remarkable. I had been 
feeding shorts, four quarts, cotton-seed meal and Indian-meal 
a quart each, daily. I diminished the grain within two daj's 
just one-half, and the milk increased one-eighth; and I fed 
with that about five pounds of hay to each cow per day. 



180 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 

The silo product is not mouldj' anywhere. The fodder that 
was perfectly dry and put on top is eaten up just as clean as 
can be. By tliis simple nietliod farmers can preserve their 
fodder in a moist condition, so that the cattle will eat it all ; 
and they can save labor, because it is much easier to put it 
in a silo in the field tlian to cut it up. If you cut it up, it 
will heat tremendously in twenty-four hours. 

I liave no doubt but tiiat I sliall raise a great deal of corn- 
fodder, and put it up in that v/ny, simplj^ because it is hand}^ ; 
and we can get more of it in that way than in any otlier. 

I don't know but I should hesitate in regard to putting 
sugar-corn down in this waj', after wliat has been said about 
it. 

Professor Goessmaxn. It would depend upon at what 
time it was put in. 

Dr. Faxon. I planted some green corn for market, and 
it gave me a little over twelve pounds of fodder to each ker- 
nel. That was the Burr corn. There were eleven thousand 
l^ernels to tiie acre, and that is nearly sixty tons of green 
fodder. Tlie land had been in grass seven years. I ploughed 
it up last 3-ear to kill the witch-grass out of it. It had been 
top-dressed nearl}- every year, and this last ye.ar it was ma- 
nured simply witli a very little compost of hen-manure. I 
planted Tny corn the first day of May (rows four feet apart, 
one grain in a place a foot apart) ; and along in July I cut 
some of it up for fodder, and got at the rate of sixty tons to 
the acre. I feed about sixty pounds a day of the corn-fodder. 
Dr. liuilcy says that is sufficient to feed a cow, without anj' 
liaj' : 1 do not think it is. I feed a little hay, and I think I 
get a better result. 

Piofessor Goessmaxn. There is a point which needs ex- 
planation. Feeding coiii-fodder, which differs in its compo- 
sition from the requirements of the animal to support its life, 
can only be accomplished In^ the waste of one or the other 
constituents of the material. If we feed an article of fodder 
in whicli the nitrogenous matter stands to the non-nitroge- 
nous as one to nine, we give, in many cases, more non-nitro- 
genous matter than the animal requires. For instance, a 
milch cow requires, according to long-continued experiments, 
the proportion of one to five and a half, — almost one-half 
nitrogenous matter more to give you the benefit of the other 



GREEN FOOD IN SILOS. 181 

half of non-iiitrogeiious matter : in other words, you waste 
half. The same is true if you feed green grass alone, or hay 
alone, or clover-hay alone. The proportion of nitrogenous 
to non-nitrogenous matter in good clover-liay is about one 
to three, or one to three and seven-tenths. Now, if a cow 
needs only the proportion of one to five, jou waste a fair 
proportion of good fodder in that clover-hay. The experi- 
ment has been successfully tried to see if we can su2)plemciit 
our hay and clover by straw, or by materials tliat contain 
one to nine, or one to ten. Here comes in the (jucstiou of 
cheapness of feeding, which the farmer has to stiiil}'. There 
is an actual waste of feeding value in feeding tlie l)cst liay 
without any addition, under almost any conditions. Tliat 
fact has been established by practice. Tlie same is true 
with regard to clover-liay and other leguminous plants. 
We are just beginning to discuss this important (picstiou of 
rational feeding; and we can never come to a decision, 
unless we take into consideration, besides the cliaracter of 
the fodder, tlic particular requirements of the animal. If 
we feed for sustenance merely and for the production of 
milk on the same scale, we waste, in one way or the other, 
our food; and it is necessary for us to learn in what proj)or- 
tion we can economically sui)plement by lighter and inferior 
articles of fodder our strong articles of foddei', as, for in- 
stance, good clover or meadow ha}'. It is imj)ortant to 
consider the requirements of tlie animal with reference to 
what it is to do. A horse to do good work requires a larger 
relative amount of nitrogenous matter than a horse that 
stands idle. An ox which is kept through the winter simjily 
for work in the spring can be kept at a far cheaper rate than 
an ox that is put to daily labor. With us the question 
remains, how to make a practical application of this fact. 

I listened with a good deal of interest to the discussion on 
feeding yesterday ; but, for one, I must say that there is no 
basis for comparison. Without having any information re- 
garding the quahty of the fodder which has been fed, how 
can we draw any reasonable deduction as to its feeding 
value? The question of quality is of the first importance. 
The discussion of ensilage, I think, has come up at the 
inoper time. It may serve as the means of stirring up tlie 
fodder question, which needs further ventilation (tliere can 
be no doubt about it) as mucli as the fertilizer question. 



182 BOARD OF AGRICUI/fURE. 

Mr. BowDiTCH. I would like to ask what the effect 
would be upon the fodder if a raiu should come up, and it 
should be wet as it was being put into the silo. 

Professor Gokssjiaxn. It would have no effect whatever. 
That is one of the great advantages. It renders us inde- 
pendent of the season in regard to those crops which suffer 
inost from exposure. 

Dr. Wakefield. We have listened to a very able 
address from Professor Goessmann on the ensilage system. 
lie has given us the facts in regard to the preservation of 
fodder in silos which cost considerable money. We iiave 
had an experiment given by another doctor, which any of us 
can try. It is within the means of anyljody here who raises 
corn to t]-y the experiment, because all he has to do is to 
l>l()ugh up his land, and make his silo in tlie field. I am 
very much interested in this last process, because it comes 
down to my means, and, I think, to tlie means of all of 
us. I do not see why, from his description, the fodder is 
not preserved substantially as well as in the expensive silos. 
He says his cattle eat it readily, and he says his milk keeps 
up. Those are the two things that we want. The professor 
has stated here what is lost and what is gained by tlie silo, 
and he saj^s that it is necessary to exclude the air ; and the 
question is, I low much shall be excluded? We cannot go 
into the process of extracting the air by an air-pump ; but, 
if we can exclude it sufficiently by piling up some rougli 
hemlock-boards at an expense of something like fifteen or 
twenty dollars, we can aftbrd to do it if we can obtain a 
feed, which, in the main, answers the jiurpose just the same 
as if we had an air-pump in operation, and pumped all the 
air out, which would be too expensive a business for us to 
engage in. 

It seems to me that this experiment is of vast importance 
to us. We have heard what the professor said here about 
experiments in Germany and Finance, and the experiments 
wliich are made in silos which cost a great deal of money. 
If we can have the same advantages, in the main, without 
so mucii ex]>ense, then there is a great amount gained. Now. 
this ensilage that Dr. Faxon has brought here looks like 
tobacco ; but if his cows don't call it tobacco, and will eat it, 
and give milk in proportion, it does not make any difference 



GREEN FOOD IN SILOS. 183 

whether it has turned green, or graj', or dark-colored. We 
want tlie facts in the matter, so that we maj^ know wliether 
we can get tlie benefits of this system witliout too much ex- 
pense. Here is a chance, I conceive, to trj^ the experiment. 
He has tried it on a cheap scale, and we can all try it in a 
similar maniler. 

Dr. Faxon. I wish to say that there is one thing which 
might make this cheap process of preserving fodder of value. 
It is veiy easy for us to buy oil-cake, or any nitrogenous 
commercial article ; but if we can raise forty, fifty, or sixty 
tons of corn-fodder on an acre, and by that means keep four 
or five cows in the barn, and put the manure on the ground, 
it will enable us to use a good many acres that are of no 
value now. That is the point we are after. I will not take 
isstie witli tlie professor on the loss ; but tlie question is. How 
much shall we gain? If we have land that does not bring 
in net five dollars an acre, if we can make it yield fifty 
dollars an acre, tliere is so much gained. Tliat is the only 
practical point there is about it. It enables us to save fodder 
that Ave could not save in any other way. 

Mr. Johnson (of Framingham). I suppose the matter 
of dollars and cents is to come into this silo question, and 
tlierefore I venture to speak of the cost of preserving field- 
corn. To take sixty tons of greeji corn and cut it up into 
pieces an inch long, aiul put it into silos, is very exijcnsive. 
I think Dr. Faxon has demonstrated thoroughly that corn 
can be kept in the inexpensive way he has described. Now 
I wish to state, that in 186G or 18G7 I packed a bay of haj' 
tliat was not hi the field over an hour from the time the 
scythe dropped it. The timothy was not in full blossom 
when it was cut. I packed it so that it was all laid even and 
straight tlirough tlie mow, and kept it as nearly air-tight as 
possible. The barn had no cellar. The hay was packed close 
to the ground, with plank underneath. Tliat hay was thor- 
oughly preserved. It had a fine brown shade, and was the 
s\v;etest and best hay for niilcli cows that I ever fed. I 
could not put in my haj^ where there is a cellar underneath 
in that way. That hay was, as I have said, thoroughly pre- 
served, except about a foot in depth, wliich could not be 
kept as tight as the rest of the hay in the mow. I am confi- 
dent that the gentleman's theory is correct, and his experi- 



184 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 

ment is correct every way ; and hay may just as ivell be kept 
dried in that form, as dried three or four days, and lose half 
of its value. 

The Chairman. Why didn't you go on getting your hay 
in that way ? 

Mr. J OHNSON. I did, until I got a cellar under my barn. 

Mr. SoiONS. The last gentleman who spoke left the in- 
ference on my mind that he thought the drying of hay was 
injurious. I understood the professor that drying did not 
injure it. 

Professor Goessjiann. No crop loses in its feeding value 
by careful drying. It is the only process by which the or- 
dinary feeding value of grass may be preserved entirely. 
The making of brown hay, as Mr. Jolmson has described, is 
a practice which is cari-ied on, to some extent, here and there, 
and when we cannot dry our grass it comes in as a great 
help ; that is, the loss is not as great as in a silo. But it is 
more difficult, and I suppose will be found more difficult to 
manage successfully than the management of a simple silo. 

Mr. Williams. What effect does falling dew have ? 

Professor GoESS]VLa.NX. The falling of dew is not of any 
particular consequence. 

Mr. Williams. Then there is no disadvantage if we do 
not cock our hay up at night ? 

Professor Goessjiann. I have never seen any evidence 
of it. 

QlTESTiox. Is there not always a loss when hay is stored 
damp enough, so that sufficient heat is generated to change 
its color? 

Professor Goessmann. Yes, sir : there is no doubt about 
that. Heat indicates a chemical transformation, a change of 
valuable material, no doubt. The difference between brown 
hay and ensilage is a mere matter of degree, nothing else. 
If brown hay is well managed, the production of it undoubt- 
edly saves more than the production of ensilage will. But 
as I understand, and general observation tells me, it is more 
difficult to prepare brown hay of good feeding qualities than 
to prepare good ensilage. 

Question. Is it possible, in getting in hay that is not 
thoroughly cured, to tread it solid enough in the mow to 
preserve it any better than if it is not trodden down ? Can 
you exclude the air by that operation? 



GREEN FOOD IN SILOS. 185 

Professor Goessmann. Yes, sir: quite sufficient to re- 
duce it to the smallest quantit}'. You will find the outside 
portion of the hay injured rather more than the interior 
part, because that affords a freer passage for the au-. 

Dr. Faxon. A gentleman just asked about putting hi 
hay green to make brown hajr. It should be known that it 
is not necessary to dry hay a great deal. I mil relate an 
operation of mine, simply to show you how a large mass of 
partially di'ied green fodder can be put in. Some seven 
j'ear ago I mowed aljout ten acres of Hungarian grass, 
mixed witli wormwood : it was almost as thick as it could 
stand. I finished cutting it at night, and left it until the 
next morning. The next day that stuff was as green as it 
could be. There was certainly as much as twenty tons of it, 
two-thirds or more wormwood. I made a stack of it, thatched 
the top, and it steamed there until February. I did not cut 
that down until August, the second yeamfter; and there was 
not a brown straw in it : it was just as diy and fresh as it 
could be, showing that there was not enough water left in 
the stack to produce any organic change, or else that it all 
worked off in steam. That was the best lot of hay I ever 
saw of that kind. There was not a foot of it at the top 
damaged. 

Major Emery (of Lowell). I certainly, for one, have felt 
more pleasure, and been more benefited, by this lecture, 
than by any paper or any Icctm-e I have ever heard or read 
since I have been in the farming busmess. It seems to me 
that either chemistry must go under, or this sdo bushiess. 
I think chemistry has done more for farming than any thing 
else of late years. I tliink it lias taught us more in the 
right direction, and in the end will produce more. It will 
revolutionize most of our modes of farming. 

I have discussed this same subject with Dr. Bailey at 
Billerica; and, to sliow you how people look over the surface, 
I ^vill name one thing that came up. He took the ground 
that fermentation created and brouglit out the sugar, whicli 
is entirely different from the fact. I took the ground that 
fermentation brought out the alcohol. Now, we have had 
the yellow-fever in the West, and we have had a commission 
of the Board of Health to look after it, and see if there can- 
not be a stop put to it. We have had the small-pox in many 



186 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 

places, and we have liad the Board of Health after that. 
Now the American people have the disease of silo on the 
brain; and we have a man here who has, I think, shown you 
the merits of it. I hope that the State Board of Agriculture 
will print this address in some form, so that every man who 
has silo on the brain can read for himself, and make up his 
mind wliether he will have a silo or not ; whether he will so 
according to the facts as given us by chemistry, or whether 
he will take the thing that first strikes his mind, because his 
cows appear to do a little better, and perhaps, the first week, 
will yield a little more milk. I think the lecture to which 
we have listened is worth more than any paper that was ever 
put out by any agi-icultural society ; and I hope that it will 
be published in such shape, that every farmer who can read 
and understand will know the exact benefits or disadvan- 
tages from excludmg the air from this green food. I am 
not a chemist, and I do not know wliether the ground taken 
hj Mr. Bailey is right or not ; but, wheii I liave a piece of 
timber that I want to use, I turn it over to see if there is 
not a knot on the under side. I hope the people will look 
this matter over very carefully before they spend any money. 

Capt. MooKE. I would like to ask Professor Goessmann 
whether, in liis judgment, there has been any impi'ovemeut 
over the old plan of " making hay when the sun shines." 

Professor GoESSMAiOr. No : I stated that most distinctly. 
There is no improvement over that method if the weather is 
favorable ; but, as I said, the system of ensilage will be an 
assistance in saving, in many instances, a large quantity of 
valuable food. In unfavorable seasons it will undoubtedly 
prove very valuable to the farming community, under proper 
management. I think simple ditches will do. It is not 
necessary to have expensive masonry in a silo. A pit, if 
lined with boards to prevent leakage, will do as well on a 
moderate scale. The only difficulty about a silo made in the 
ground, and unlined, is, that a large amount of the soluble 
l)ortion of the material will be apt to leak into tlie loose soil. 
I stated that in one case fifty per cent of the value had been 
lost by simple leakage in the grouiul. What we want to 
preserve is the nutritive portion of the fodder: and, if any 
part of it f»asses into the ground in form of a solution, much 
is lost ; for the solution contains the most valuable portion of 



GREEN FOOD IN SILOS. 187 

the fodder. It is for this reason not the proper thing to con- 
struct a silo in loose soil. It would be far better to line it 
with some suitable material, and use it year after year for 
the same purpose. 

Mr. Whittaker. I want, before this meeting dissolves, 
to submit a resolution ; and I would like to state the reason 
why I submit it. When it was first announced that the 
Board of Agriculture was to hold its annual session in South- 
borough, there was a good deal of criticism elicited in con- 
nection with it. It was tliouglit liighly pieposterous to make 
the attempt to hold this meeting of the Board in a small 
place like Southborough, where there was not a hotel, within 
four or five miles of the town ; and how we were going to 
manage it, and how we were going to get an audience to 
listen to tlie addresses that might be delivered, was a ques- 
tion that nobody could solve. When I came here the other 
morning, I supposed the meeting commenced at the usual 
time, ten o'clock; and I got here about eight, in order to be 
present at the opening of the meeting. It seemed to me a 
remarkably quiet place. It was so quiet, I could not get 
away from the idea that I had made a mistake, and come up 
on Sunday. But that is not the point. At a great many 
meetings of the State Board previously, it has been supposed 
that it was necessary to go to some populous centime in order 
to get an audience. Tliis delusion has been dispelled in 
Southborough. As I understand, the population of this 
town is not much over twenty-five hundred. We liave had 
very stormy weather. Yesterday was an exceedingly stormy 
day, and yet this hall was full. I do not know what we 
should have done, if it had been a pleasant day, so that 
people could get here. This hall certainly would not have 
been large enough to hold the audience. There iire ladies 
enough in Soutiiborough interested in this matter to fill this 
haU if it had been a pleasant day. They have been inter- 
ested enough, small as the place is, to feed us, and feed us 
well. I do not know that we were ever better fed, better 
entertained, or better cared for in every respect at any place, 
however large. 

Now, Mr. President, I submit this resolution: — 

Resolved, That the guests of the State I5oaril of Agriculture desire 
to express their thanks to the board for holding this meeting in a 
strictly agricultural district. 



188 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 

The resolution was adopted. 

Question. I would like to ask the professor one ques- 
tion : What, in his judgment, would be the effect upon do- 
mestic animals of eating the product of a silo day after day, 
and week after week, through the winter ? Whether it would 
induce any disease in the stock? That is a serious question 
to my mind. 

Professor Goessmann. Feeding exclusively ensilage in 
large quantities is not to be recommended. It ought to be 
supplemented, without doubt, in many instances, with some 
other stronger article of food. Ensilage contains frequently 
a large quantity of acid, and I should recommend that it be 
supplemented by something else to counteract the effect of 
the acid. For instance, give forty pounds of ensilage, and 
supplement with some hay, and similar, even stronger articles 
of fodder from time to time. No one article of fodder can 
be used economically for all kinds of animals in different 
conditions, with equal advantages. 

The Chairjian. Before dissolving this meeting, in be- 
half of the Board of Agriculture I desii-e to express again 
our great gratification at this large and most intelligent 
audience. The meetings have been larger and better and 
more successful, I tliink, than any of the country meetings I 
have ever attended ; and, while we feel thankful for our kind 
reception here, we certainly ought to thank you, in behalf 
of ourselves and our speakers, for the close attention which 
you have paid to the papers ; and I beUeve you will be 
rewarded for this in the present, and still more when you 
receive the Secretary's Report. 

And now, in behalf of the Board, I bid you farewell, and 
hope for a happy return to your homes. 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



002 766 188 9 



L 



